Creating Dynamic Scenarios Using AI Audio and Video in Storyline
In this excerpt from Quick Tips & Tricks: Episode 129, Mike Enders shows you how to create rich, dynamic AI video and audio within Articulate Storyline. Using a fun superhero setting and comic book style, Mike employs a variety of techniques to bring his scenario to life!Interrogating the Future: An AI Confession
“The suspect knew too much about AI. Or maybe… she just knew how to answer the right questions.” Check out the recorded Pod Cast Here: Interrogating the future How It All Began It started as a simple reflection, ten questions about how AI is shaping my design work. But instead of writing a straight blog, I found myself drawn to something more atmospheric. Something that felt like the process itself, shadowy, uncertain, full of creative tension. So, I turned the reflection into a crime-show-style interrogation, complete with tape recorder hums, flickering lights, and a narrator whose voice demanded answers. The irony? Every part of the production was built with AI. The words, the sound, the visuals, even the interrogation room itself, were all digitally generated and then manually composed by me. Built by AI, Crafted by Hand I started by feeding the ten questions into ChatGPT, but instead of plain responses, I asked for a script. Together, we created a dialogue between a suspicious interrogator and me — a learning designer “accused” of collaborating with Artificial Intelligence. Then came the layers: Voice: generated using AI text-to-speech, giving each character a distinct tone and rhythm. Sound Effects: sourced and blended through AI-assisted sound libraries; tape clicks, fluorescent hums. Images: created with AI image generation and enhanced in Photoshop’s Generative Expand to build the noir interrogation room. Editing: every frame and cue assembled manually — timed to each pause, each flicker, each breath. It wasn’t just automation, it was orchestration. Why Noir? Noir has always been about truth hiding in plain sight. It’s smoky, suspicious, human. And that’s exactly how AI feels right now, part mystery, part revelation. The interrogation format gave me a way to ask the big questions: Is AI saving us time or stealing our craft? Can it really understand empathy, context, and culture? Or is it just pretending well enough to fool us — and our learners? The Real Interrogation Behind the theatrics, the project became a metaphor for the design process itself. Every day, learning designers interrogate ideas: “What’s the story here?” “What does the learner need?” “Is this real, or just noise?” AI doesn’t replace that questioning, it amplifies it. It’s like having an endless brainstorm partner who never sleeps, never stops suggesting, and occasionally hands you brilliance on a platter. The Craft of Collaboration What fascinated me most was the balance. AI built the assets — but I gave them shape. It’s a partnership that works best when humans stay in control of tone, meaning, and emotional truth. “AI gave me the pieces. But I had to make them make sense.” That’s the new creative muscle, knowing when to hand over, when to edit, and when to override. Lessons from the Interrogation Room By the end, I realised the project wasn’t about AI at all, it was about agency. The ability to stay curious, playful, and skeptical, even when technology feels all-knowing. If AI has a role in the future of learning design, it’s not to automate creativity, it’s to augment it. To make space for designers to ask better questions, faster. To amplify storytelling, not silence it. Final Word So yes, I built my own interrogation. I wrote the script with AI. I voiced it with AI. I scored, illustrated, and expanded it with AI. And then I did what no algorithm could: I stitched it all together with intuition, timing, and story sense. Because creativity isn’t about the tools you use. It’s about what you do with them.[Issue] AI Localization: Text-to-Speech audio does not auto-regenerate after translation?
Hi everyone, I am currently testing the new AI Localization feature (English to Italian) and ran into a workflow issue regarding Text-to-Speech (TTS) audio generation. The Setup: Source: English Storyline file using native Text-to-Speech audio. Action: Used File > Localization > Translate Course to convert to Italian. Settings: Formality set to "Formal". The Issue: The AI successfully translated the text inside the Text-to-Speech script editor into Italian. However, the actual audio file on the timeline did not update automatically. When I previewed the slides: The text on screen was Italian. The script in the TTS window was Italian. The Audio being played was still the original English voice. The Workaround: I had to manually open the Text-to-Speech editor for every single audio clip and click the blue "Update" button. Only after doing this manual step did the audio regenerate into the Italian voice. My Question: I noticed the disclaimer that "Text-to-speech translation is currently in beta." Is this manual update process expected behavior for the Beta version? Or should the AI be auto-regenerating the audio files during the initial translation process? Checking if anyone else has experienced this or if there is a setting I missed to force auto-generation. Thanks!Incident Management for Mandated Reporters
This video was created using Vyond. It is an introduction to a larger storyline course about mandated reporting and the laws that were created to prevent abuse and neglect in the IDD (Intellectual and Developmental Disability) community. I used background audio and coordinated text and images to communicate the intensity and importance of the topic.Storyline 360: Adding Audio
In this user guide, we'll explore several ways to add audio to Storyline 360 courses. Choosing Default Playback and Recording Devices Importing Audio Files Recording Narration Converting Text to Speech Adding Background Audio Controlling Background Audio With Triggers Using the Background Audio Volume Variable Importing Slides from Other Content Sources Making Audio Accessible Create Sound Effects with AI Assistant Add a layer of realism to your audio content with AI-generated sound effects. Learn how to use AI Assistant to level up your course authoring game. Choosing Default Playback and Recording Devices Before you import or record narration, you'll want to choose your default playback and recording devices. Go to the Insert tab on the Storyline ribbon, click the Audio drop-down arrow, and choose Options. Select a speaker for your default playback device. Select a microphone for your default recording device and set your recording volume. Click OK to save your changes. Importing Audio Files First, do either of the following: In Slide View, go to the Insert tab on the ribbon, click the Audio drop-down arrow, and select Audio from File or Media Library. Or, simply drag an audio file from your computer and drop it on your course slide. In Form View, go to the Question tab on the ribbon, click the Audio drop-down arrow, and select Audio from File or Media Library. Browse to the audio file you want to insert and click Open. Storyline 360 supports these file formats: AAC AIF AIFF M4A MP3 OGG WAV WMA Tip: If you import an audio file without captions, AI Assistant prompts you to generate them automatically. Click Generate Captions to create captions for your audio. To generate captions automatically next time, check the box to Remember my choice for future imports. You can adjust this preference anytime from the Features tab on the Storyline Options window. Recording Narration First, do either of the following: In Slide View, go to the Insert tab on the ribbon, click the Audio drop-down arrow, and select Record Mic. In Form View, go to the Question tab on the ribbon, click the Audio drop-down arrow, and select Record Mic. The Record Microphone window opens. If you have a script you want to use, click the Narration Script button, which reveals the text from the Notes panel. (Learn more about adding slide notes.) When you're ready to begin recording, click the red Record button. When you've finished recording, click the Stop recording button. You can preview your recording using the Play/Pause and Rewind buttons. If you need to record your narration again, just click the Record button to start over. If you want to delete your narration altogether, click the Delete button. Tip: Generate captions for your audio recordings with AI Assistant to boost accessibility. If you change your mind about recording narration and would prefer to import audio instead, click the Import audio file button. Browse to the audio file you want to insert and click Open. If you want to edit the audio you just recorded, click the Edit audio button to launch the built-in audio editor. Learn more about editing audio. Click the Save button to add the newly recorded audio to your project. (Also, be sure to save your overall project file to retain the changes you just made.) Converting Text to Speech Speed up course development by converting text to speech right in Storyline 360. For example, use the text-to-speech feature to quickly narrate a course for stakeholder review or to localize narration in different languages. You can even choose the voice and language to make sure every word sounds right. In Slide View, go to the Insert tab on the Storyline ribbon, click the Audio drop-down arrow, and choose Text-to-Speech. When the Insert Text-to-Speech window appears, select a Language from the first drop-down list. This ensures that your words are spoken with the correct pronunciations. Then choose a Voice from the second drop-down list. You can hear what a voice sounds like by clicking the Preview Voice button next to the list. Type or paste your script into the text-entry field. Or, if you want to use your slide notes as your script, just click the Copy from Slide Notes button. Tip: You can convert up to 10,000 characters at a time. If your script is longer than that, break it into smaller chunks and generate more than one text-to-speech audio clip. Then place the audio clips back to back on the timeline so they play in sequential order. If you'd like to add closed captions to your text-to-speech narration, mark the Generate Closed Captions box in the upper right corner. Learn more about text-to-speech closed captions. Click Insert to complete the process. Storyline 360 will convert your text to narration, and it'll appear as an audio clip on the slide's timeline. The conversion process is fast, but lengthy scripts will take longer to convert. Learn more about working with text-to-speech narration. Adding Background Audio Set the right tone for your course with a background playlist that keeps learners engaged. Learners can toggle background audio on and off as they prefer. Here's how to add background audio to your course. Go to the Insert tab on the Storyline ribbon and click the Audio drop-down arrow. Then hover over Background Audio and choose Create Playlist. When the Background Playlist window appears, click the plus sign drop-down arrow, and select Audio from File or Media Library to upload your audio. Learn more about background audio. Controlling Background Audio With Triggers As of November 2023, you can control the background audio for each slide using triggers to play, pause, or stop the playlist. For example, you might want the audio to play when learners click a button. Here's how to create a background audio trigger. After you've added background audio, click the Create a new trigger icon in the Triggers panel, or go to the Insert tab on the ribbon and click Trigger. Select a media action (play, pause, or stop), then fill in the related parameters, such as the playlist and object. Choose when you want the action to happen. Optional: You can add conditions to your trigger so it only occurs in certain circumstances. Note: If you pause or stop the background audio and then jump to another slide, the background audio won't play on that slide. If you want the background audio to play on another slide, create a trigger that plays the background audio when that specific slide's timeline starts. Using the Background Audio Volume Variable As of November 2023, you can customize the background audio experience even further. Fine-tune the volume with this built-in percentage-based variable: Player.BackgroundAudioVolume : The volume of the background playlist in percentage Using the background audio volume variable is easy—it works like any other variable in Storyline 360. Learn more about working with variables. Importing Slides from Other Content Sources When you import slides into Storyline from Microsoft PowerPoint, Quizmaker, or other Storyline projects, audio resources from the external content are also imported and available for editing. You can also import Engage interactions, but their audio resources can't be edited in Storyline 360. Making Audio Accessible Audio accessibility helps make learning inclusive and understandable for everyone—especially for those who are deaf or hard of hearing, have cognitive disabilities, or don’t speak the course language fluently. The following tips can boost your audio accessibility: Enable playback speed control. Let learners explore content at their own pace with an adjustable playback speed. They should be able to slow down or speed up audio as needed. (1.4.2 Audio Control). Use closed captions. More learners can fully engage with and comprehend audio content when you provide closed captions. And in Storyline 360, you have options! You can import captions, create your own, or let AI Assistant generate them for you automatically. Position captions at the top or bottom of your slides and customize the foreground and background colors to maximize readability. (1.2.2 Captions [Prerecorded]). Provide text transcripts for audio content. Include spoken dialogue, speaker identification, and meaningful non-speech sounds so all learners can fully access and understand the audio. To display transcripts, you can use text boxes, layers, markers, or slide notes (1.2.1 Audio-only [Prerecorded]). Keep your language simple. Use plain language in your audio content and descriptions. Straightforward and clear language helps your audience easily read and understand the information. Reduce distractions. Enable the background audio toggle to give learners the option to mute any background tracks. This helps learners stay focused and lets assistive technologies navigate content more effectively. The “Lower background audio volume when slide audio plays” setting is enabled by default to support accessibility. (1.4.2 Audio Control) You Might Also Want to Explore: Editing Audio Using the Audio Tools
